A comparative study between Yasõdarãvata and Its English translation by Ranjini Obeyesekere

Abstract

Translation is generally defined as the process of converting textual materials in one language into another language. One of the major categories of translation is literary translation, in which a literary work from its source language is converted into the target language. In some occasions, the process of translation could be complex, due to the uneven qualities of the cultural aspects of the source language and the target language. The literary works selected for the study were Yasõdarãvata and its English translation by Ranjini Obeyesekere. Yasõdarãvata is an elegy, of which the author is anonymous. It consists of 130 stanzas. The work depicts the main concepts, incidents related to Buddhism and Buddhist culture and the life stories of prince Siddãrta (Lord Buddha) and his wife, princess Yasõdarã. It was expected to study how far the translator had been successful in the translation, when compared with the source text. Thirty stanzas from the source text were selected for the study. The efficacy of the translator in converting literary techniques (similes, metaphors, rhythmic pattern, etc.), cultural facts and religious concepts mentioned in the source text were discussed. Then, how far the translator had been faithful to the content and the style of the source text were analysed in the study. Accordingly, it was obvious that the translator had not done any harm to the content of the source text. However, the final outcome of the study was, that the effort of the translator was praiseworthy, yet there were deductions and omissions in presenting the aforesaid components and certain terms in the source text where the translator has not been much successful as far as the author of the source text is.